Application Hibernation

ABSTRACT

Operating a data processing system comprises defining a plurality of profiles, each profile comprising a list of one or more applications; receiving a defined user input requesting a switch from a first profile to a second profile; hibernating the (or each) application listed in the first profile; and recalling from hibernation the (or each) application listed in the second profile. Preferably, a graphical user interface is adjusted to reflect a change in status of each application that has been hibernated or recalled from hibernation.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to operating a data processing device. Inone embodiment, the invention provides for profile-based applicationhibernation.

Computer users often have different roles when using a computer, andoften the same computer is used for both work and social tasks. Forexample, this results in a user getting in to work and having to launchseveral applications that they require to do their job and closing themwhen they go home at the end of the day. When they are at home, theyhave to start more non-work applications, or require application use ofnon-work files. Sometimes a user may wish to switch to their work roleat home for a couple of hours in the evening but without theinconvenience of having to launch all of the applications that theyrequire.

There are several known solutions that relate to this problem. Firstly,the concept of multiple desktops that could allow a user to runapplications associated with work and social uses on different desktopsis known. However, this has several drawbacks in that there are alimited number of alternative desktops, and so a user may want torepresent more “roles” than is possible. Another drawback to thisapproach is that it does not take into account applications that may fitinto multiple roles, forcing the user to move the application or switchdesktops. Additionally, the applications running in another desktop maycontinue to use system resources even while a user is using a differentdesktop. Another approach that could be used to solve this problem isuser switching. A user could create an account to represent each rolethat they want to represent and switch between them. However, thisapproach also suffers from the disadvantages listed above.

BRIEF SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to operating a dataprocessing system comprising defining a plurality of profiles, eachprofile comprising a list of at least one application, receiving adefined user input requesting a switch from a first profile to a secondprofile, hibernating the (or each) application listed in the firstprofile, and recalling from hibernation the (or each) application listedin the second profile. Embodiments of the present invention may beprovided as methods, systems, and/or computer program products.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a data processing system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a processor of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of two profiles;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram, similar to FIG. 2, of the processor ofthe system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram, similar to FIG. 3, of a profile; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of operating the data processingsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Owing to the invention, it is possible to allow a user to keepapplications associated with several roles open, whilst only viewing andusing the applications that are relevant to the user's current role. Thecore idea of the invention is to allow users to quickly switch betweenthe profiles in which they use their computer with as littleinconvenience as possible, viewing and using only the applications thatare currently relevant to them. This is achieved by assigning eachapplication to a profile, where a profile can represent a role orspecific use case of the computer for the user, which a user could thenbulk hibernate as their use of the computer changes. When a profile, orindividual application, is selected for hibernation, the applicationwill be removed from RAM and its visible presence on the task bar shouldbe removed.

The advantages that this system offers over the solutions mentionedpreviously are that the graphical user interface can be de-cluttered,thereby displaying only relevant applications; the overhead of loadingfrequently-used applications can be avoided; system resources canpotentially be saved by forcing the paging of in-progress applications;and applications with related uses can quickly and easily be loaded.

Preferably, each profile comprises a list of one or more files linked toan application listed in the profile, and when a user requests to switchfrom a first profile to a second profile, the recalling from hibernationof each application listed in the second profile comprises recallingfrom hibernation each file listed in the second profile. Therefore, itis additionally possible to assign profile roles at a file or documentlevel. This would mean that should a word processing application havetwo files open with different roles associated, only one file would behibernated when the user requests a profile switch, with the otherremaining active. This provides the user with a greater level offlexibility in the handling of applications and files used byapplications.

In addition to the actual hibernation of applications and the recall ofother applications from hibernation, a graphical user interface of adata processing system can be changed to reflect the change in status ofthe applications that have hibernated or recalled from hibernation. Thisgives the user an immediate, obvious overview of the changes to theapplications that are newly available or no longer available.

An embodiment of the present invention can be configured so that a usercan add (or indeed remove) an application from a profile in a simple andefficient manner, responsive to a defined user input. For example, a keyon a keyboard can be configured as a way of adding a current applicationto a current profile. A user might be using their computer in a “work”mode using a dedicated profile in which they have accessed a newapplication such as an instant messaging client which is not currentlyan application listed in the specific profile. However, the user canpress a predefined hotkey and this action will add the new applicationto the user's current profile. The same key could also removeapplications from a profile, and as so acts as a toggle of the status ofthe application with respect to the current profile.

In addition to the simple manual method of using a hotkey mentionedabove, by which a user can add a current application to a currentprofile, applications can also be added automatically to a profile, if auser is interacting with an application in a manner that corresponds toa predefined category. For example, the user may be using their computerin a “personal” profile, but has opened a traditional businessapplication such as a spreadsheet. An embodiment of the presentinvention can be configured such that in certain predefinedcircumstances, the recently-opened application can automatically beadded to the current profile. The predefined circumstances might besomething as simple as the user interacting with the application for aspecific length of time, or might be something more complicated such asthe nature of the files being accessed via the application. Thisautomatic adding of applications to a profile will improve the user'sexperience of the technology and will more likely tailor each profile tothe actual applications that a user would need within that profile.

Turning now to the figures, a data processing system is shown in FIG. 1.The system comprises a processing device 10, a display device 12, anduser interface devices 14. The user interface devices 14 are illustratedas a keyboard 14 a and a mouse 14 b. The system shown in FIG. 1 is astandard desktop computer, which is composed of discrete components thatare locally located, but could equally be a device such as a laptopcomputer or suitably enabled handheld device such as a mobile phone orPDA (personal digital assistant). The system may comprise part of anetworked or mainframe computing system, in which case the processingdevice 10 may be located remotely from the user input devices 14 and thedisplay device 12, or indeed may have its function distributed amongstseparate devices.

The display device 12 shows an image 16, and the display of the image 16is controlled by the processing device 10. One or more applications arerunning on the processing device 10, and these are represented to theuser by corresponding application windows 18, with which the user caninteract in a conventional manner. A cursor 20 is shown, and the usercan control the movement of the cursor 20 about the image 16 shown onthe display device 12 using the computer mouse 14 b, again in a totallyconventional manner. The user can perform actions with respect to anyrunning application via the user interface device 14, and these actionsresult in corresponding changes in the image 16, displayed by thedisplay device 12.

In FIG. 1, two application windows 18 are shown, but it is increasinglycommon for users to have large numbers of applications open at the sametime. Since display devices 12 are increasing in size, users can havelarger numbers of windows 18 in view, since there is greater usabledisplay area that can support the open windows 18. In addition, userstend to have open other applications that are not currently displayingwindows 18, either because the window 18 for an application is lying“behind” another window 18, or the application has been “minimised” to atask bar, and therefore no window 18 is currently being shown for thespecific application, even though the application is running andconsuming system resources.

This data processing system provides an additional component to theexisting operating system management capability dealing with theresource management of applications, such that hibernation ofapplications can be achieved through profile-based grouping ofapplications and associated user content. A user creates a profile whichprovides a class of use under which several applications can be grouped.An application may belong to more than one group if that is what theuser defines. Then as the user's use of the computer changes, the usercan hibernate or wake groups of, or individual, applications to suit hisor her needs at that moment in time. Additionally, user content filescan be assigned to groups, such that a subset of files currentlyexecuting within an application can be hibernated on request.

When an application program becomes hibernated by the triggering of achange of roles, the pages in memory for that application are swappedout to virtual memory, thus ensuring that the swapped-out pages consumeno further CPU or RAM resources, just hard-disk storage. Additionally,the visible marker on the task bar can be removed to de-clutter thegraphical user interface, or some other similar form of user interfacerestructuring can be carried out. The operating system being run by theprocessing device 10 will ensure that the user has some method ofrestoring these hibernated applications, as once they have been removedfrom the taskbar, there is no direct visible access to them.

FIG. 2 illustrates in more detail some of the components making up theprocessing device 10. A central processing unit (CPU) 22 connects to acache memory (RAM) 24 and also to a hard disk drive 26. The hard diskdrive 26 provides persistent storage of data and the RAM 24 providesfast access to data that is being currently used by the CPU 22. Anapplication that is being accessed by the user of the data processingsystem will exist in the RAM 24, and the act of hibernating such anapplication will cause a copy of the current state of the applicationmaintained by the RAM 24 being copied to the hard disk drive 26.

The user of the data processing system can create multiple differentprofiles that represent different working roles for the computing systemthat he or she is using. As has been discussed above, it is common formany modern professionals to use the same computer (such as a portablelaptop computer) for both work and personal purposes. For this reason,the presence of the user profiles and the ability to quickly swapbetween profiles is very advantageous to the user. A “work” profile anda “personal” profile can have different applications associated withthem and the user can switch between the profiles, for example bypressing a designated hotkey on the keyboard 14 a.

FIG. 3 illustrates two different profiles 28. These are a work profile28 a and a personal profile 28 b, although the data processing systemmay simply label them as a first profile and a second profile. Eachprofile 28 comprises a list of applications 30. The creation andamendment of profiles 28 is controlled by the user through the userinterface to the data processing system. A user can add applications 30to a profile 28 either by performing an action when using a specificapplication 30, or through the use of a dedicated tool for the creationand amendment of the profiles 28. Users can have as many profiles 28 asthey desire.

In the example of FIG. 3, the word processing application is present inboth profiles 28 and this is permissible, as the user may wish to accessthe application in both “roles” embodied by the profiles 28. It isimportant to note that the nature of hibernation is such that thespecific application 30 could, and most likely would, be different ineach profile 28. When an application 30 is hibernated, its current stateis saved, which would include information such as the state of thecurrent file being worked on and adjustable features within anapplication 30. The recall of an application 30 from hibernation wouldbe the version of the application 30 that is specific to that profile28.

The concept of switching profile 28 is more clearly illustrated in FIG.4. A user is currently using a first profile P1, which is the workprofile 28 a of FIG. 3. The user desires to switch from the firstprofile 28 a to a second profile P2, which is the personal profile 28 bof FIG. 3. The data processing system receives a defined user inputrequesting a switch from the first profile 28 a to the second profile 28b. This input could be the pressing of a hotkey on the keyboard 14 a,for example. In response to this input, the data processing systemhibernates all those applications 30 listed in the first profile 28 aand recalls from hibernation all those applications 30 listed in thesecond profile 28 b.

The process of hibernation and recall from hibernation is shown in FIG.4 by the arrows linking the RAM 24 and the hard disk drive 26. Theapplications 30 listed in the respective profiles 28 are moved from onestorage device to another under the control of the CPU 22. Thehibernation process is not the same as simply closing and opening theapplications 30 in conventional operating system manner. The hibernationtakes an exact copy of the current memory state of the specificapplication 30 and copies that to the hard disk drive 26 from the RAM24. The recall from hibernation performs the opposite step, restoringthe original stored state of the application 30.

The principal advantage of this process is that it allows a user toswitch between applications 30 that are appropriate for their currenttasks very simply and efficiently, while minimising the demands on theavailable CPU 22 and RAM 24 resources. Since the state of an application30 is maintained through the hibernation process, a user can be workingon a file on an application 30, press a button to switch profile 28 andlater press the same button to switch back to the original profile, andthe application 30 will be ready and loaded with the file in exactly thesame position it was at the point when the user first switched from oneprofile 28 to another profile 28.

In addition to the profile 28 referring to one or more applications 30,a profile 28 may further comprise a list of one or more files linked toan application 30 listed in the profile 28. In this case, when recallingfrom hibernation each application 30 listed in the profile 28, the dataprocessing system will also recall from hibernation each file listed inthe profile 28. This provides the user with greater flexibility andmeans that a user can add files to a profile 28 in such a way that theywill always be part of the application data when it is recalled fromhibernation. The file will be part of the state data for the particularapplication 30.

FIG. 5 shows the example of a profile 28 that also has a file 32attached to a word processing application 30. This file 32 is the user'scurriculum vitae (CV), on which the user is periodically working. Whenthe user is working under their “work” profile 28 a, this file 32 willnot be part of the word processing application 30 when it is brought outof hibernation. When the user wishes to work on their CV in the wordprocessing application 30 in their personal profile 28 b, the user canperform the switch between profiles 28 to get access to this file 32.Files 32 can be added to profiles 28 either directly from the profile 32or from the profile management tool.

A switch from the personal profile 28 b to the work profile 28 a wouldstill provide the user with access to the word processing application30, as this application 30 is also present within the work profile 28 a,but the specific file 32 for the CV would not form part of the copy ofthe application 30 that has been recalled from hibernation. That is, thestate of the word processing application 30 stored by the hard diskdrive 26 for the work profile 28 a would not contain any stateinformation about the CV file 32. Other files 32 can be handled in thesame manner and can be added and deleted from profiles 28 according tothe desires of the user.

A method of operating the data processing system is summarised in theflowchart of FIG. 6. The method comprises, at step S1, defining aplurality of profiles 28, each profile 28 comprising a list of one ormore applications 30. It is assumed that the user defines the profiles28 from a profile tool that could itself be an application 30 run by theprocessing device 10 or could be a tool accessed via a system “controlpanel”, commonly found on many modern computers. Alternatively oradditionally, profiles 28 could be created or adapted automaticallybased on a user's interactions with applications 30 when theapplications 30 are being executed.

The next step is the step S2, which comprises receiving a defined userinput requesting a switch from a first profile 28 to a second profile28, followed by step S3, which comprises hibernating each application 30listed in the first profile 28, and step S4, which comprises recallingfrom hibernation each application 30 listed in the second profile 28. Inthis way, the current state data of applications 30 in the currentprofile 28 is moved from temporary fast memory 24 to the slowerpersistent storage 26 that does not consume system resources. At thesame time, the reverse process is executed for the applications 30within the second profile 28, where state data is moved from the slowerpersistent memory 26 into local RAM 24.

The final step in the process is step S5, which comprises adjusting agraphical user interface to reflect the change in status of eachapplication 30 that has been hibernated or recalled from hibernation.The natural conclusion of the process is to tidy up the graphicalrepresentation of the applications 30 that is presented to the user bythe display device 12. Any windows 18 for applications 30 that have beenhibernated are removed, and for the applications 30 that have beenrecalled from hibernation, new windows 18 may be created or the task barmay be updated to show which applications 30 are now open, and possiblywhich files are open within the specific applications.

1. A method of operating a data processing system, comprising: defininga plurality of profiles, each profile comprising a list of at least oneapplication; receiving a defined user input requesting a switch from afirst profile to a second profile; hibernating each application listedin the first profile; and recalling from hibernation each applicationlisted in the second profile.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein: each profile further comprises a list of at least one filelinked to at least one of the at least one application listed in theprofile; and the recalling from hibernation comprises recalling fromhibernation each file listed in the second profile.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising adjusting a graphical userinterface to reflect a change in status of each application that hasbeen hibernated or recalled from hibernation.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: receiving a further defined user input thatrequests adding an application to a profile; and adding the requestedapplication to the profile responsive to receiving the further defineduser input.
 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:monitoring use of an application by a user; and adding the applicationto a profile if the monitored use of the application falls into at leastone predefined category.